HRM501 Human Resource Management

Assignments 1
Q1
The rapid globalization bring the organization to compete in global market. In the global market,
organization faces different challenges such as economic challenges, law and regulation, diversified workforce,
and technological advancement (Baird and Meshoulam, 1988). In order to compete in a competitive environment,
organizations must have capability to withstand/deal with theses challenges. If the organization is able to manage
these challenges, then it can carry out its operation effectively. Some company express the opinion that to perform
effectively in a globalization environment, the role of HR management cannot be ignored, while other feel that it
is not necessary to aware of the role of HR management. This essay will discuss both these views, before
expressing my point of view in the conclusion part.
Many companies view the human resource function as merely administration, with little or no strategic
impact because the human resource department in some companies focuses only on traditional human resource
activities and process orientation, such as staffing and compensation, but on outcomes and we can call it
traditional HR management (BECKER and GERHART, 1996). Traditional HR management pay most of attention
on the recruitment of right people based on position demands and perform following the requirements of
positions. It is very much about the current need of human resource and in the passive role. Traditional HRM is
only expected to be "paper pushers" who could keep all of the Personnel files straight (BECKER and GERHART,
1996). They maintained organization records on the people who worked for the company but had very little to do
with the management of the organization's business processes. Since all they had to do was manage paper, we
frequency put those with more limited skills in Personnel. In a globalized environment, most HR departments did
not involve big-picture, executive-level involvement with the organization's strategic operations and provided
limited service to the organizationkeeping track of job applicants, maintaining employee paperwork, and filing
annual performance evaluations (Lussier and Hendon, 2013).If so HR does not withstanding the challenge in a
globalized environment and then overlook a role of HR management makes a lot of business sense.
Other companies, however, realize that the role of HR is not just a support function. HR management can
be a strategic partner in helping a company achieves its goals. A strategic approach to HR do more than the
administrative tasks. Strategic HR managers need to think more broadly and deeply about how employees will
contribute to the companys success (DELERY and DOTY, 1996).

Figure 1: Role of HR by Dave Ulrich (Dave Ulrich, 1997)

The role of HR management nowadays is shifting from focusing on the organization of business to focusing on
the business of the organization. Dave Ulrich, in his book Human Resource Champions (Ulrich, 1997) identifies
four distinct roles of HR professional. In the past, HR played the role of an administrative expert and employee
advocate but today HR have to move toward a more strategic role as strategic partner and more active as change
agent whereby it plays a main role in devising strategies for the company.
HR as Strategic Partner
HR as strategic Partner participates in defining organizations strategies and strategically managing people and
infrastructure to support the execution of strategies and the creation of value. Moreover, it contributes to
management teams strategic decision-making (Dave Ulrich, 1997). CEOs across the globe would like to be able
to use their chief human resource officers (CHROs) the way they use their CFOsas sounding boards and trusted
partnersand rely on their skills in linking people and numbers to diagnose weaknesses and strengths in the
organization, find the right fit between employees and jobs, and advise on the talent implications of the
companys strategy (Charan, R., 2014).
HR as Change Agent
Due to the globalization of the economy and enhancements in communication, the rate of change has increased
dramatically . The role of HR is to facilitate the change in organizations. The good example of this is
Transformation at Ermenegildo Zegna, an Italian based luxury menswear company. It is a family owned
business that employs 7,500 people, almost half of whom are based in Italy. In 2006 it turned over 779.4
million . When Zegna's senior management team decided to transform the organization into a
performance orientated culture, the decision was made to start with the HR function.Gildo Zegna, the chief
executive of Zegna, started the change process by looking for a HR director with global experience to bring into
the business as global head of HR. New HR director begin with booting sales by developing a success profile to
identify the five or six critical beliefs that really make the best sales people successful within their role and then
develop a series of training workshops for sales people. The workshops were not the end product however; the HR
team quantifies and demonstrates the impact and success that its training programs had on the business (Business
transformation at Zegna, 2009). After implement first training programs, the annual sales increase 27 %. And in
the end of 2006, the company turns into growth stage. Of course this change is not from only the HR
management. The real changers are line managers, while HR can be seen as architect, facilitator and designer of
change (Dave Ulrich, 1997). Thus, If HR management involve in the strategy forming of the organization and the
strategy determine the success of the company. So, the role of human resource management for effective
performance of the organization cannot be ignored at all.
In conclusion, while some company think that HR role is insignificant to perform in globalization
environment, some appreciate the HR role that evolve and impact on business strategy. From my point of view,
however, I agree with that the role of human resource management for effective performance of the organization
in a globalized environment cannot be ignored at all. The obvious reason is you can have the extraordinary
products and unique services as a core competencies but this is not remain forever in the globalized environment
that new players easily enter the market and copy your core competencies. But the one that stands the test of time
is people. As the saying go
You can take my factories, burn up my buildings, but give me my people,

and I will bring my business right back again

-Henry Ford

Q2a
Major challenges in HR today
HR is responsible for managing the organization's people. The HR managers have to keep up with the challenge
that effect people in their organization.
1. Demographic challenges
Demographic refers to the composition of the workforce in terms of age distribution, gender, education
level, participation rates, migration, immigration and birth rate in different periods. These data are important in
HR planning because they can point to gaps and potential shortages in the future (Entrekin and Scott-Ladd, 2013).
For example: ITD, the largest infrastructure construction company in Thailand, founded in 1958 and enjoyed the
advantage of the long period of growth, development and stability. Most of his workers in a senior position are
near retirement now, The challenge of HR is to deal with job vacancies and multi-generational workforce.
2. Economic challenges
Economics challenge can change fairly rapidly, as is evidenced by the recessions affecting many
countries back-to-back following the great financial crisis in US that started following the property market
collapse in 2007-2008 (The Economist, 2013). The collapse of the Greek economy necessitated a European Union
bailout; a prolonged recession in Spain led to a bailout of the banks to try to stabilize the economy, but there is
still much uncertainty about the countries economic future.
The company and HR have to emphasize the need to monitor the economic force that can be somewhat
predictable and to have company's contingency plan for those that are less predictable, together with a strategic
human resource planning for the future. For example: The downsizing and layoffs plan in a global recession.
3. Globalization
Globalization means employable populations are moving more freely than ever around the world, which
is leading to increased workforce diversity and reduces cultural homogeneity within national workforces (Entrekin
and Scott-Ladd, 2013).
Outsourcing is one of the impact of globalization (Feenstra, 1998). Companies outsource specific employee
administration functions requiring specialized knowledge while retaining core business' functions in-house.
This will undoubtedly create challenges equality and will force HR professionals to become much more culturally
aware so that they are equipped to manage employees from a growing number of countries, faiths and ethnic
group (Entrekin and Scott-Ladd, 2013).

Top Trends in HR Today

To keep up with other companies, HR managers have to follow up HR trend today (Humanresourcesiq.com,
2015).
1. HR Analytics & Metrics
Most of the companies expect far more from their HR department than just completing paperwork for
new employees and precessing payroll, they expect measurable and economic return to HR program. As today's
HR department is consider a strategic business partner. In this role, the company anticipates the HR department to
be an integral and actively involved business units that develops workforce strategy that meets the needs of the
organization by providing big data to help organization improving decision-making and even identifying new
opportunities.
2. Information and communication technology
Impact of in informations and communication technologies (ICTs) have extensively changed the way we
work in today's digitized world. They have also been major change in the human resource management. The
impact of these changes in technology are clearly illustrated by increasing mobile workforce that is driven by
growing access of internet and telecommunication technology. More and more companies are reducing overhead
costs by letting their constantly wired workforce telecommute. It's the challenge for HR to assess the most
effective methods for managing and communicating with teleworkers, particularly across borders.

3. Compensation & Benefit

As the demographic arrangement of the workforce changes, their motivations and expectations change
also (Future HR Trends, 2015). HR will have to change their incentives and benefits policies, and retention
strategies for employees who are not just driven by financial compensation. It is not enough simply to recruit
talent employees, especially younger workers today. In america, 62 percent of worker in the market workforce are
from Generation Y (The Economist, 2013). The global generational study, conducted by PwC, reveal that this
generation gives precedence to work-life balance before compensation. So, HR managers today have reward and
encourage the workforce more in non-financial format such as flexible workplace arrangement.
4. Training & Development
Employees are looking for companies that will provide them the skills necessary to prepare them for their
long-term career goals. They want company to rewards them in future career for example rapid skill development
and advance within the firm. So, organizations that utilize Career path have a significant advantage in retaining
key employees and developing a strong, sustainable workforce. Most employees today are putting a stronger
satisfaction rating on whether their employer is developing them.

Q2b
HRM is is a function in organizations designed to maximize employee performance in service of an employer's
strategic objectives (Collings and Wood, 2009).

IHRM is a set of activities aimed managing organizational human resources at international level to achieve
organizational objectives and achieve competitive advantage over competitors at national and international
level (Evans, Pucik and Bjrkman, 2011).
From the above, It's clear that HRM and IHRM have same basic human resource management objectives.
Additionally, Both domestic and international HRM have the same basic functions and activities. Both of
domestic and international HR managers need to plan for the human resources, hire the right people in right
numbers, train and develop, compensate, maintain and motivate employees, whether his or her domain in
domestic or global (Aswathappa, 2007).
However, The real big different point is that domestic HRM is only dealing with one national boundary
while IHRM is operating across national boundaries. IHRM also deals with employees more than one type:
expatriates, local nationals and third- country nationals. There are two majors factors that differentiate domestic
HRM from IHRM. First, the complexities of operating HR management in different countries and therefore in
different cultures, and secondly employing different national categories of workers (Scullion and Collings, 2006).
Due to the two majors factors , IHR Manager need to have knowledge of business conditions in a variety of
countries and skill to manage them within and across borders
Research suggests that many firms continue to underestimate the complexity of managing human resource across
boarders which often in poor performance in international operations (Scullion and Collings, 2006). So, to have a
good international HR Management, HR Managers cannot copy domestic HR Management
The practice of HRM in the international context is different from its domestic counterpart in a number of issues.
For example:
# Having more function and activities
To operate internationally, HR have responsibilities in more functions and activities than in a domestic
environment. The first and most important is the staffing needs of the company. Other functions include recruiting
and training employees to ensuring that they are performing at expected levels or better, handling performance
issues and making sure that management policies conform to laws and regulations. IHRM is also involved in
managing employee compensation and benefits, employee records and personnel policies and practices. (hrguide.com, 2007).
# Requiring a broader base of knowledge
The primary difference between domestic human resource management and international human resource
management is the added knowledge and responsibilities required due to foreign operations. These typically
include language (in non-English speaking offshore organizations), the local and national regulations and laws
governing business operations within a foreign country. For example: one of the initial problems with owning and
operating a business in Thailand is that foreigner generally cannot own more than 49 percent of any Thailand firm
unless it is incorporate in a special free zone, and in some cases 39%. This effect the controlling of the company
over the remainder of the shares. The same goes for your home or land. This is an important point because if you
ever have a problem with your Thai partner, you basically have no rights in the Thai courts. When comparing
Thailand to some of its neighboring countries, Malaysia is also another promising option where foreigners can
100% of their land, home, and business.
IHR management people must understand these differences clearly and stand ready to keep other company people
informed of them to prevent embarrassing situations and unintentional affronts from occurring including
# More risk management.
MNCs occasionally involve with doing business in chaos or hostile environment. Obviously, the environment and
context these firms are embedded in cause severe challenges for international HRM, such as ensuring well-being
and safety of the employees in these countries. For example : In Thailand, Political demonstrations occur very
often and usually are months-long protests. And many times, it developed to civil war. If company plan to sent
workers to Thailand, IHRM must ensure workplace safety and develop plan how to work from home when the
long-period protest happen.

Not only this risk, Thailand also have problem with intellectual property. It's often that the secret in formation in
the company expose to the public such as product design, product prototype, product concept. IHRM have to deal
with this problem by developing the information securities policy .
# More diversity management.
IHR is involved with more than one national group of employees, the host-country nationals, Parent-country
nationals, and Third-country nationals(Scullion and Collings, 2006). adding complex diversity management.
For example in Thailand. The important of a person depends very much on his or her age, social standing, their
rank in society. The higher social status will usually be treated with more respect, whereby the capabilities of that
person are irrelevant, or whether that person is capable or fair in the western sense of the word. To face and
withstand with diversity management, HR managers need to have leadership skill, change management skill.
psychology, and communication skill.

Q2c
The landscape on the workforce in modern world is changing. Many people of the view that Modern
careers are no longer drawn by national boundaries From my point of View, I agree with this statement due to
virtual workforce and outsourcing.
Virtual workforce is the empirical phenomenon that support that modern careers are no longer drawn by
national boundaries. Through use of technology, many companies have virtual workforces that perform tasks from
nearly all corners of the world. Forrester Research reports that Working virtually isnt new, but its growing
rapidly. By 2016, just four years from now, 63 million Americans will be working this way, up sharply from
2010s 34 million. Technological advancement is the major mechanism that fuels this trend, such as email, mobile
phone, web, and videoconferencing. It has allowed multi-national companies to form cross-border teams, where
colleagues can communicate with each other constantly despite of not being located in the same place. For
example Mozilla, most famously known for their web browser Firefox. They are completely open to having a
remote workforce. At Mozilla, there are a few positions that are required to be in house, but many are not. A large
amount of Mozillas employee is allowed to work where they are most comfortable. By giving the employees the
choice to work in the environment that is best suited to their life, employers not only encourage them to deliver
the best result, but you also save on business travel and relocation costs for individual workers. This is the reason
why many companies in the modern world decided to develop virtual workforce program and cross-border
workers have increased rapidly.
Outsourcing is another empirical picture that support that modern careers are no longer drawn by national
boundaries. Intensified global competitiveness has led to a never-ending search for sources of labor (Entrekin and
Scott-Ladd, 2013). This is the survival keys in more serious competition in today world. The clear illustration of
this is the apparel and footwear industries where leading brand name multi-national companies outsource much or
all of their production to developing countries in Asia and Latin America where the labour and raw material costs
are significantly lower than the European countries. Outsourcing not only cost saving, outsourcing non-core
activities allow your staff to focus on only their core function. It is strengths the expertise in core-value activities
and company get the maximum benefits from their talents employees.
In conclusion, It is clear from the increasing of virtual workforce and outsourcing in modern world today
that Modern careers are no longer drawn by national boundaries However, outsourcing and virtual workforce have
weak point and some big company had been cancel these programs already. For example: Yahoo revoke virtual
workforces and bring his employees back to the office because he saw significant drop in teamwork after
implementing virtual workforce program. Similarly in outsourcing, due to rising wages in China, many American
multi-national companies bring production back to home.

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